Expansion tank for water line may solve noisy 'hammer'

Q. When my toilet on the first floor is flushed and the water refills in the bowl, there is a loud BANG at the end of the water coming in. The toilet is a small, "water-efficient" type. Copper piping was used when this was installed about seven years ago. The problem started recently. The second floor toilet, old-type, has the same problem but the bang is not as loud. The water faucets cause no problem now, but the water pipes did a continuous banging when the water was running for a while after a new hot-water furnace was installed. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. My regular plumber has not been able to correct the toilet problem.

A. The banging you hear is water hammer. It occurs because the new water-saving toilet must shut off more abruptly than the older toilet does. You didn't say, but if you are on a well and have an older pressure tank, it may be waterlogged and there is little or no air cushion left to absorb the vibrations when the toilet tanks are filled and the valves shut off. If on municipal water, you may need to have an expansion tank installed to absorb the sudden shutting off of the water.

Q. Like everyone, I am trying to economize on my home-heating costs. I have an oil-fired boiler that also heats the hot water. I am the only person in this six-bedroom home, now that the kids are gone, and my husband has passed on. So I do a lot of thermostat adjustments in the winter so I don't heat empty rooms. Now that warm weather has arrived, my concern is having the boiler on 24 hours a day, supplying hot water when I do not need it. I have turned the boiler off for today, since I will not need hot water until tomorrow. Am I overdoing my frugality or am I right on the mark? Will the amount oil saved for unused hot water be negligible or considerable?

A. It depends on how you get your hot water. If you have what is known as a side arm - a storage tank next to your boiler in which the water is heated by the boiler and recirculated by means of a small circulator - you can shut off the boiler if you will not need hot water for a considerable length of time. But if your hot water is supplied by a coil in the boiler itself, shutting off the boiler allows it to cool down. When you need hot water, it needs to be brought back to normal operating temperature, which may take a while, especially if you have an old boiler. You'll have to wait for some time before you get hot water. This is unlikely to save you much unless you don't need hot water for several days.

Q. I read your column in the Daily Herald and love it. I have a recurring problem with wasps making nests in the gaps between the gutters and house, under the shingles and especially in the gutters at the end near the downspout. Can you recommend anything to deter this and solve my problem? We live across from an open park and then wooded area.

A. If the wasps building nests in the spots you describe are Polistes or mud daubers, you do not have much to be concerned about. They are gentle wasps that will not sting unless provoked by direct contact. Polistes wasps are brownish with long bodies and a very tiny waist, while mud daubers look similar but are steel blue - both types are slow fliers. Yellow jackets are another story, but are less likely to build nests in the close-quarters you describe. You might want to pre-empt the building of nests by spraying between the gutters and fascia boards and elsewhere as needed. Use a wasp and hornet spray that shoots a 20-foot stream in the early spring.

Q. I would like to paint the exterior of my home. On the north, south and east sides of the house I have asbestos shingles that are in fairly good shape, installed in 1975. On the west side I have cedar shakes that have been stained twice in the past 33 years and are in great shape. I would like to go from this brown color to a light gray. I have heard of this Tex-Cote paint that is sprayed on and never has to be done again. Final Coat Exteriors is the contractor for the New Jersey and Pennsylvania area, www.ihatepaint.com. Have you ever heard of this Tex-Cote? Will it work on my asbestos and cedar shingles? If not, what would be a good paint and how should I prepare the outside of the shingles before applying the paint?

A. Why would you want to paint wood shingles that are stained and in great shape? They can be re-stained with the stain color of your choice, but it may take several applications to go from brown to light gray. You can also paint the asbestos shingles with a masonry or quality latex paint of the same light gray color. Any hardware store with a substantial paint department or paint store can mix the color you want.

You will need to pressure-wash the shingles before applying the new coatings. I have no experience with Tex-Cote. If you decide to investigate using this coating, you should ask the company to provide you with the names of at least six customers that have had the process on for several years. These older customers can tell you if the coatings have stood the test of time, and if there have been problems, whether the firm has made it good in a timely fashion.

Q. We have a need for a total of five replacement trays and were wondering if there is a business that may specialize in replacement trays for 40- or 50-year-old recessed soap holders? If not, do you have any suggestions for removing the old metal-tray fixtures from a ceramic shower wall without breaking up the tile? The ones we have are not secured with screws but are evidently set into grout or something.

A. I have searched in vain for the plastic replacement trays you are looking for. Can't you use the existing metal trays as they are? It would be very difficult to remove the metal trays from a tiled wall. A tile setter, if you can find one, would be the person to call for a replacement. Sorry I can't be of more help. If anyone has a suggestion, please pass it on.

Q. We have gutters (and downspouts) installed with horizontal nails that are approximately 24 inches apart. We are located near pine trees, and pine needles keep coming down and clogging the downspout openings. Climbing a ladder to remove these is a continuing chore that I am getting too old to do much longer. I contacted three different gutter experts to find if there is some sort of cover or something that would permit water drainage, but stop all pine needles from clogging the gutters. I received three answers:

• Yes, and it costs $10 per foot installed (we have 162 feet).

• Maybe, it depends on how many needles come down.

• Nothing can be done.

Would you know of any system that could do this for me?

A. I do not know of any gutter covers that will prevent pine needles from getting in. I have tried and looked at a number of gutter covers over the years, and have not found a single one that stands the test of time. But there is a system that will work and never clog: commercial downspouts that are 3-inch by 4-inch - twice the cross section of the residential types that are only 2-inch by 3-inch. I have found that some gutter installers are willing and capable of installing commercial downspouts onto residential gutters while others say it can't be done. Call around until you find one who will. The alternative is to have your 5-inch residential gutters changed to 6-inch commercial gutters.

Another device, Rainhandler, can be used only if the grade around your house is sloping away. The series of "Venetian blind" type slats in a horizontal holder spray water away from the house and cannot collect debris. Check the Rain Handler on their Web site at www.rainhandler.com. I have had great success with them.

Q. We live in northern Vermont, and have an oil-fired furnace, but primarily heat our house with wood. Due to the high cost of oil, we're thinking about changing our hot-water heater to either an electric or an oil on-demand, hot-water heater. Which system would be more cost-effective and efficient?

A. If your hot water is coming from a coil in the boiler, it may be worthwhile having an electric water heater installed (be sure it's a well-insulated tank like the plastic Marathon, or add to it an insulated jacket you can buy in hardware stores or home centers). If your hot water is heated by the boiler and is stored in a sidearm tank, and you have an energy-efficient boiler, it may not be worth switching systems.

As far as I know, there are no oil-fired, on-demand water heaters - only electric or natural and propane gas-fired units. Electric on-demand water heaters have limited capacity and you may find that you will not have enough hot water if you are showering while using the dishwasher or clothes washer, or you will not have hot water in the dishwasher if you are using any other hot-water-needing appliance or fixture. The distance between the on-demand heater and the fixtures is also a consideration. You also have to consider the cost of replacement and weigh that against the additional cost of oil today against what you paid for it in better days. If you are heating your house with a wood furnace (as opposed to a wood stove located in a central area of the house), you may want to consider a booster storage tank tied to the wood furnace that heats water by gravity as long as a fire is going in the furnace. This may also work with a wood stove if the stove is in a utility room and near a water source; be sure to insulate the pipes. I have used such a system for years to preheat my water to 100 degrees before it passed through my electric water heater.

Q. How do we repair the water damage to the exterior of our cinder block foundation? There's damage where the blocks meet the asphalt driveway. Over the years, water has pooled there and ate away about a -inch to 1-inch high portion of the blocks. The building, which is 40 years old, is on a concrete slab. Some damage has crept into the slab. Will a pre-made patch material make a good repair? Or should we consult a professional mason? Is the integrity of the foundation at stake?

A. The damage definitely needs to be repaired. It has probably been caused by salt brought in by cars and spread to the foundation by rain. If you intend to do the repair yourself, you can use a product such as Thorocrete with Acryl-60 added to the mix. Follow the instructions. Or if job is too big, a mason is the person to call.

Q. I live in a two-bedroom townhouse. We have a deck that badly needs to be painted. It has turned gray. This is my first house and I have no clue at all how to do it.

A. Assuming your deck is made of pressure-treated wood, I would not recommend painting it. The gray color is a natural progression and of no concern. You certainly can help the wood by cleaning it with one of the wood cleaners that is specially formulated for such wood, applying a coating similarly formulated for protection. One such widely available system is Wolman Wood Care Products, www.wolman.com. If you are not able to do the job yourself, look for deck-cleaning firms in your local newspaper or ask friends and neighbors for recommendations.

• Henri de Marne's column appears Sundays. He was a remodeling contractor in Washington, D.C., for many years, and is now a consultant. Write to him in care of the Daily Herald, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or via e-mail at henridemarne@gmavt.net.

© 2008, United Feature Syndicate Inc.